Churches September 2012

The change from the colonial period to an era of free nations was so radical that we have hardly gotten over it. In the meantime, the world has changed again in an unforeseen manner from the 1980s with the fall of Berlin’s Wall. At the same time, we saw the rise of the Asian Tigers…

The events that took place in Tunisia and whose spirit has spread in the Middle East took us by surprise. In a few weeks, the whole of Northern Africa was affected. We started to hear the expression ‘Arab spring’. Spring is the time when nature comes back to life, the time in which we…

With the fall of the Eastern bloc at the end of the 1980s, many African countries experienced a brief democratic spring. In DRC – then called Zaire – President Mobutu allowed popular consultations on the future of the country, giving people some hope of a democratic change. However,…

The Alphonso Children’s Home and Place of Safety is run by the Sisters of St John the Baptist. These nuns are in daily touch with children who have experienced abuse. They try to provide the necessary healing conditions for them. The stories of child abuse and abandonment stunned me as I listened to the…